A team of scientists from the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Vietnam have sequenced the genome of a multidrug-resistant typhoid-causing strain of Salmonella enterica (S typhi). Strains of S typhi cause an estimated 16 million cases of typhoid fever annually, resulting in 600 000 deaths. The work was published in the October 25 issue of Nature.

In addition to the enormous burden of disease resulting from infection with S typhi, the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains of the microbe is a worrisome development that concerns public health experts. For example, some 90% of strains in Vietnam are already reported to be resistant to most available antibiotics, including those only recently available.